Abstract:

The main purpose of this research study was to compare national and regional newspaper coverage of the issue of ethanol. The methodology used in this study was content analysis. Newspaper articles were the units of analysis. Newspaper articles printed in four national newspapers and four regional newspapers located in the top ethanol producing states in the United States were collected from a LexisNexis Academic database and analyzed. Newspaper articles were analyzed in terms of article source, size, placement in terms of section and page number, headline and author attributes, the number and types of sources included in each story, overall article tone and themes. Results from the content analysis found no significant correlations between national and regional newspapers and the tone, source types and themes of ethanol articles. Data did show differences in other affective attributes attached to the issue of ethanol.